Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-08-16
NEW STATE OF AFFAIRS.
WoUld-be Lessees Abandon the In.eg.
ton Of Leasing Because They Can't
s. cuTe Alternate Sections.
This Great Landed syn0ic ltes Have Ds-
c!ded Distaste to Leasing and arc PUT
ting Their Lsnds OF the Market.
Correspondence of the Gazette.

Correspondence of the Gazette.
MoBEETIE, TEX, Aug. PA signih-
cant circumstance, end one Waich prom
ises to have most Important bearire On
the land problem and the settlement Ct
the Panhandle, is the new attitude which
the holders Of the immense tracts in this
section located win railroad certificates,
hsve assumed with reference to thu dis
I posal o. these lands. Heretofore the syn
dicates winch succeeded 10 railroad OWL
| ershiD have shown but little interest in
the sale Ct these lands, and have confined
their efforts to utilize them for
: prof. 10 the leasing system.
Now, to their crest establishment,
catliemen who n2ve been waiting for the
new law to 90 into effect to lease up
| their ranges, find, in many csses. their
purpose blocked by the refusal Of the
owners Of the private alternating sec
tons 10 lease for any definite period.
Seversl instances have been brought 10
the attention of TIE GAZETTE reporter
where would be lessees nave been forced
to abandon the intention Of leasing from
the state, because they could not secure
the alternate sectors from the
syndicates holding the railroad lands
On any other terms than those which
made them subject to sale at any time.
The applicants 10 lease were dlsgusted
with such conditions ant withdrew their
applications. 1t is well understood here
that the cattle men Will not lease on such
terms unless to serve temporary pur-
pose, and with the view OF p speedy a5an
dOnment OF their present ranges, or, IN
less, as ii their dealings with the state,
, they hope to make these terms practically
imperative. Not only are the great landed
syndlcates beginning to show decided
+ dIstsste for leasing, but measures are
+ being taken to push the sales CT their
land. The two great corporations which
own large proportion O: the alternating
o sections il the Panhandle-the Houston
= and Texas Central Railway, ard the New
= York and Texas Lsnd Company, which
n holds the international Isnds-have sur
! veYiDg parties out locating boundary lines
= and establishing corners. l. is generally
q recognized that such a move, undertaken
at heavy expense, is the initiative sep
toward colonization measures on large
4 scale. No other motive could be found
: for such accurate lOCstiOn Of these lands
than the expectation that they will soon
o be ia demand on the market. This pur-
n pose 10 sell, of which frequent intims-
I tons have lately been gwen, hiss beer
= confirmed by the Ction Of the land com
II panies with reference 10 leasing.
:. Among the COrroborating circumstance;
: evidenc.ng change Of policy on the psrt
70 Of the CREST private landed interests \
.. the presence of their agents here, Wht
% are taking active measures .
A. put these holdings Oh the market. Nj
= William Walter Phelps, the New Jer-e.
statesman, owns several hundred thou
10 sand acres in Hemphiu, Wheeler, Roberts
~ Gray, CCIlingsWorth, D0nley, Hall an
~ Childress counties, which he bOuga. Q
l. the Houston and Great n crtbern Rlil
N road. He recently stationed q represent
81 alive in Mooeette with instructions 20 sci
d off these lands as speedily IS possible
Two causes are assigned for thi
+ change of heart on the part of tn
~ lsnd syndicates. FIRST, that they hav
No been Visiting for the coming Of railroad
Va to this country to give it g boom and thu
no enable them to realize fair price 70
- their properties, and that now they regar
= Is "the accepted time" TO sell; second
an the organization OF counties, and Conse
y QueDt local control of assessments is rur
~ ming up the rate of taxation 10 a hgur
- which must seriously affect such vast in
- terests, especially when, as things stan
70 ct present, they are but "dead" property
~ yielding not cent in dividends to the
owners.
ar The policy OF these holders, so far as
nd has been developed, is to sell on five an
% eight years time, with annual install
o. ments and low rate Of interest. Unles
the school lands are priced a. the mini
mum figure, permitted by the new la7
Of the state Will be undersold. But eve
Us though the state should ADOPT II
lowest prices, of 81 and s. pt
,pi acre, it is expected tina. Il
injpresence of active agents here, II
:. ease with which the lands can De purchase
aud identified, and the simplicity Of Il
conditions of sale will cause immigran
is to prefer the individual to public land
to 1t is not improbable that the public w
hear soon of some colonization schem
on large scale, which will have fC
their object the sale and settlement
private land holdings in the Panhandle